The Malheur National Forest issued a revised Rail Ridge Fire Perimeter Closure Order, effective October 28, 2024. This order rescinds and replaces the previous closure order for the Malheur. For the full closure order and map, please see the attached documents.

The Ochoco National Forest issued a revised Paulina Complex Fire Area Closure Order, affecting the Rail Ridge Fire. This order is effective October 28, 2024 and rescinds and supersedes the previous closure order. For the full closure order and map, please see the attached documents.

                                                     Happy Fire 

Sequoia National Forest and Giant Sequoia National Monument

Dunlap, CA – November 14, 2024 — The Happy Fire originated on July 16, 2024 from a lightning strike during a thunderstorm in the Sequoia National Forest, Hume Lake Ranger District. The Happy Fire has been actively burning in the Monarch Wilderness area north of the South Fork of the Kings River. 

The Happy Fire has provided the opportunity to reintroduce fire back into this landscape.  The local management team based on the Sequoia National Forest in coordination with the Sierra National Forest and Kings Canyon National Park has been monitoring and managing the benefits this fire is providing since it began on July 16, 2024. 

Forest Officials actively engaged to manage the fire on October 31, 2024 through November 10, 2024 with ignitions north of Hwy 180 along the South Fork of the Kings River, changing the status from a monitored fire to a managed fire. 

Aerial and hand crew ignitions over a recent two-day period contributed to over 4000 acres of treatment accomplished. Ideal fire effects are benefiting natural resources, with the treated acreage now reaching 12,543 acres. 

Fire activity on the Happy Fire is expected to decrease as snowfall is expected over the fire area. Smoke has cleared out with the weather change and the fire is now in monitoring status. The ongoing monitoring of the fire ensures that any potential risks are identified and managed effectively. As the vegetation dries out, smoldering may increase and produce more smoke. The fire will be monitored until rainfall and winter-like conditions put it out. Managed fire can help achieve resource objectives and restore and maintain fire as an essential ecological process.

This will be the final update for the Happy Fire. The Sequoia National Forest Hume Lake Ranger District would like to thank the cooperators and the public for their support during the fire. Without local resources and support from the community, our team would not have been as successful.

For more information on the Happy Fire visit  https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/casqf-happy, email SM.FS.SequoiaNF@usda.gov and follow us on the Sequoia National Forest Facebook at SequoiaNF or visit our website at www.fs.usda.gov/Sequoia for current information.   

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Start Date: October 28, 2024

Cause: Unknown

Size: 323 acres

Location: 4 miles west of Alto, 9 miles northwest of Ruidoso, located in the Blue 2 wildfire footprint in the White Mountain Wilderness.

Resources: Smokey Bear IHC SMOD, Sacramento IHC SMOD, 1 Type Hand Crew, 2 helicopters, 3 engines

Types of vegetation in the area (aka fuels): Grass, shrubs, dead/down fuels

  Containment: 0%

Strategy: Full Suppression with indirect tactics         Road Closures: None            Smoke: Light

Update: Overnight, the Blue Front Fire had minimal growth, it does remain active within grassy areas with dead/down fuels. There are multiple pockets of heat along the southern border.

Today’s plan is for all crews Togo to South Fork and open an egress of 3.8miles. They will be removing significant dead/down timber in order to gain access to the fire. Steep, unsafe terrain has remained a significant challenge for crews on the ground.

Today’s aviation support includes two helicopters. Water drops will be on the South side of the fire. Helicopters will provide an opportunity for operations staff to view the fire behavior and plan accordingly.

Weather: Very dry conditions are continuing with seasonal temperatures. Higher humidity is expected to start on Friday. There is a chance of precipitation in the forecast.

  Evacuations: None currently. The Bonito corridor remains in "Ready” status.

Next update will be provided Monday, November 4, 2024 
 
People & Equipment: 234 Personnel, 6 Crews, 4 Engines, 1 Helicopter, 5 Heavy Equipment, 3 Ambulances  

Current Situation: The Pack Trail Fire is 89,930 acres, Fire Confinement 84% 

Operations – On the north and east sides of the fire, crews continue to prioritize and implement suppression repair activities as road conditions allow. Cold trailing continues along the fire perimeter as safety hazards permit. On the southwestern flank, crews continue to patrol and monitor the fire line from Union Pass to the Strawberry Warming Hut. Additional snowfall along with persistent cold temperatures continue to aid fire suppression efforts. 

Safety – Residents and visitors are reminded to exercise extreme caution when dealing with fires or other possible ignition sources.  Please use caution while driving in these areas, especially on narrow secondary roads due to snow or ice accumulation. Always expect to encounter fire vehicles and heavy equipment in and around the fire area. Check with WY-DOT for updated road conditions, especially if you are planning to travel on US-26 across the Continental Divide.  

“If you fly, we can’t.” Remember that flying a personal drone over a fire area during a temporary flight restriction is illegal and can be an extremely dangerous threat to our aviators and firefighters on the ground.  

Weather—Widespread snow showers are expected to continue through Monday as additional disturbances move across the area and colder air is ushered in. Temperatures through the weekend will be in the low 30s with winds from the west to southwest 9 to 14 mph. Winds could gust as high as 24 mph. Another cold front is predicted to bring additional light snow accumulation to the area. Weather patterns will be seasonal with intermittent precipitation and cool temperatures. The weather forecast is predicted to bring fire-season ending conditions. 

Evacuations – The Fremont County Emergency Management Agency has lifted evacuation levels for the Union Pass subdivision, Lava Mountain Lodge, Triangle C Ranch, and Old Mackenzie Ranch, effective October 30, 2024.  All evacuation areas within the Pack Trail Fire have been lifted. See the Fremont County Emergency Management Facebook Page or the  Teton County Emergency Management website for additional information.  
 
Road Closures – The Union Pass Road is closed on the Pinedale Ranger District (BTNF) from Mosquito Lake to the Moon Lake Road on the Wind River District (SHO). Moon Lake Road is also closed.  
 
Forest Closures - Closure Order #04-03-24-317 is in effect from October 14, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. through November 15, 2024 at 12:00 a.m. unless rescinded. This order supersedes previous orders, including #04-03-24-316, prohibiting the same or similar acts in the same described area.  

For more information, visit: Facebook: USDA Forest Service - Bridger-Teton National Forest, USDA Forest Service - Shoshone National Forest  Pack Trail Inciweb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/wybtf-pack-trail-fire  

SHOE FIRE 

DAILY UPDATE 

October 31, 2024 

Email: 2024.shoe@firenet.gov 

Incident Website: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/cashf-shoe-fire 

Forest Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/stnf 

Fire Weather Forecast: https://www.weather.gov/wrh/CAFW?area=ECC005 

Fire Information Line: 530-338-0317 (Staffed 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM)

Quick Facts:

Location: Shasta County, CA │ Start Date: Wednesday, October 9, 2024, at 6:57 PM │ Cause: Human 

Size: 5,124 │ Containment: 85%│ Vegetation: Timber, Chapparal │ Total Personnel Assigned: 507 

Firefighters have completed all fire suppression repair work on several divisions of the fire and these repairs on both hand lines and dozer lines await inspection by Resource Advisors. Chipping has been completed along Forest Service Road 38N07 on the east side of the fire. Excavators continued installing water bars on contingency lines near the East Fork of Sulanharas Creek. In areas too steep for heavy equipment to operate, hand crews hiked in to complete repairs on control lines. On the south end of the fire, indirect control lines were also repaired. The road grader has been making excellent progress repairing impacts from heavy equipment along Fenders Ferry Road. Contingency dozer line has been repaired and mastication work is nearing completion. Heavy equipment and fire crews continue to repair control line northward up Curl Ridge on the west side of the fire. The forecasted weather event today bringing significant rainfall is expected to impact operations across all divisions of the fire. Fire suppression repairs will continue where operations are safe and feasible, given the weather conditions. Dozer line on the south side of the fire that served as an extra wide fuel break will take a few days to repair. Some fire resources have timed out in their two-week assignments and returned home, and additional resources will be released in the coming days as work continues to wrap up.

WEATHER: Rain showers will be present around the fire area for the next two days. Showers will be heavy at times, followed by intermittent periods of lighter showers and even several hours of dry conditions. Precipitation amounts between one to two inches of rain overall are possible. Day and nighttime temperatures will range from 40-50 degrees for the entire period. Winds will be southwest with gusts 15-20 mph, but may get much gustier at times when the heavier showers move through the area.

CLOSURES AND SAFETY: 

• Fenders Ferry Road at Pit River 7 Bridge: West-Bound Fenders Ferry Road (Also known as 34N17 - Forest Service Road 27) at the Pit River Bridge/Pit 7 
• Ferry Road is closed at McCloud Bridge: East-Bound Fenders Ferry Road at the McCloud River Bridge 
• A Temporary Flight Restriction is in place over the fire area https://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_4_2632.html. Drones are prohibited from flying in fire areas. If you fly, we can’t.
• A temporary Forest closure is in effect https://www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/stnf/alerts-notices/?cid=stelprdb5392380

Wyoming Interagency Management Type 3 Team

Jon Warder, Incident Commander 

Special Notes:  Because of reduced fire threat and progress made by crews creating indirect fireline, The Bighorn National Forest closure area has been reduced to a smaller footprint. Most Forest system lands north of Highway 14 and west of Black Mountain Road 16 are now open to entry.  In addition, the section of Red Grade Road from the eastern Forest boundary up to its intersection with Big Goose Road 296 will reopen Saturday, November 2 at 7am. Red Grade Road west of Big Goose Road will remain closed for the near future while heavy equipment operators continue working to create indirect fireline. Black Mountain Road 16 remains closed between Red Grade Road and Highway 14 due to heavy equipment operations. For more details on the reduced closure, go to the Bighorn National Forest website. https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/bighorn/alerts-notices.

Current Situation: Containment has now increased to 88 percent on the Elk Fire. The additional containment along a section of the Southwest edge above Soldier Creek, and along the northwest edge near Red Canyon Creek due to recent snowfall.

With the snowfall ended and conditions clearing, graders have been able clear roads for equipment to access their worksites along Red Grade Road, where indirect fireline is under construction.  Icy roads and accumulating snow prevented crews from reaching the area on Tuesday and Wednesday.  The heavy equipment will be up and running again today, clearing trees along Red Grade Road to create current and future fire control lines to protect the Sheridan Municipal watershed and nearby structures.

Working at lower elevations less impacted by snow, the Suppression Repair group was able to make progress with projects along the front range of the Bighorns. Yesterday, firefighters with hand tools took on the challenge building water bars across a steep stretch of repaired dozer line in the eastern section of the fire area. Their work will help channel water off of the repaired line, reducing the potential for erosion. Today, firefighters will continue similar work, assisted by heavy equipment. Crews will also be repairing fences that were damaged by fire suppression activities.

Weather, Fuels, and Fire Behavior: Today over the fire will be mostly sunny with max temps from 31-37, with humidity levels around 45 percent. Winds will be out of the southwest, with occasional gusts of around 15-20 at higher elevations. Humidity levels increase tonight with a slight chance of rain.

Closures and Advisories: 

The modified Bighorn National Forest Closure reduces the closure area to a smaller footprint. Forest Closure Order No. 02-02-06-24-08 order and the related map can be viewed here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/bighorn/alerts-notices. Wyoming State Game and Fish is also re-opening several locations, including Amsden Creek Wildlife Habitat Management Area and the Kerns Wildlife Habitat Management Area, which will be open to non-motorized use only. This link provides more information: https://wgfd.wyo.gov/news-events/wyoming-game-and-fish-department-reopens-most-properties-sheridan-county

Elk Fire Statistics: Size: 98,352 acres   |   Containment: 88%   |   Total Personnel: 171|   Location: West of Sheridan, WY

Reported: September 27, 2024   |   Cause: lightning

Rush Fire

Fire Information - 580-257-7839        2024.Rush@FireNet.gov

InciWeb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/okwmr-rush-fire 

Facebook: @WichitaMountainsWildlifeRefuge

Thursday October 31, 2024

Overview: The Rush Fire is primarily on the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and lands administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Oklahoma Forestry Services. The Rush Fire is currently 12,488 acres and 61% contained. There are currently 23 engines, 1 Type 1 crew, 2 dozers, 3 helicopters, 4 water tenders and 202 people assigned to the fire. 

Today, Lake Lawtonka reopens to the public after being closed due to firefighting operations. Thank you to the City of Lawton for your coordination and support of the firefighting efforts. 

Operations: Yesterday, firefighters continued to mop up around the fire perimeter closest to the communities of Mountain Village, Camp Y’Shua, and Mt. Sheridan Estates on the north and northeastern perimeter of the fire. Along the northern edge, dozers also established a contingency line from Rain Gauge Flat east to Mountain Village. Additional engines and firefighters continued to patrol and monitor all areas of the fire perimeter along Hwy 115 and Hwy 49 along the eastern and southern fire perimeter. A hot shot crew and engines identified and extinguished areas of heat along Black Bear Flats on the northwestern edge of the fire, working 100 feet in from the fire interior.

Today, on the northeastern edge of the fire, firefighters will focus on breaking up dozer berms along the fire edge, exposing any heat that may remain inside those berms. On the northwestern edge of the fire along Black Bear Springs, a hot shot crew and engines continue to identify and extinguish hot spots and areas of heat. Additional engines will continue to monitor and patrol Hwy 49 and Hwy 115. Minimal fire behavior is expected today, but firefighters will remain vigilant with the changing wind direction and the potential for new fire starts.  

Weather/Fire Behavior: Last night, at least a quarter inch of rain fell across the fire in a line of thunderstorms that moved across the state. A strong cold front arrives this morning, bringing cooler weather with highs near 70 degrees. Winds will be out of the north, but much lighter than in the past few days. 

Air Quality: Communities around the Rush Fire will experience Good Air Quality today. Current Smoke Outlook

Evacuations: There are no evacuations in place for the Rush Fire. Residents close to the fire area should stay alert and informed on the current fire situation. Changes to evacuations will be made in consultation between fire managers and the Comanche County Emergency Management. Residents can sign up for the Comanche County Emergency Notifications and Alerts through their website at https://www.comanchecounty.us/emergency-notifications-systems

Closures and Restrictions: Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge is currently closed due to smoke impacts from the Rush Fire and to ensure the safety of firefighters and the public. This closure is for all public use areas, including Charon’s Garden Wilderness Area, Dog Run Hollow Trail System, Boulder Cabin and Picnic Areas, Lost Lake, Doris Campground, the Environmental Education Center, the Visitor Center, Holy City, the Parallel Forest, and Mount Scott.  

All entrance points to the refuge are closed. There are road closures on Highway 115 at the Cache and Meers Gates, on Highway 49 at the West Gate located Northwest of Charon’s Garden Wilderness Area and at the Medicine Park Refuge entrance. Indiahoma Road is also closed South of Charon’s Garden Wilderness Area. Entering a closed National Wildlife Refuge is a violation of federal law and is cause for fine or arrest.

Comanche County has a countywide burn ban in effect. 

A temporary flight restriction is in effect in and around the fire area. The use of personal drones is always prohibited on the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. If you fly, we cannot fly.

Rush Fire Smoke Outlook for October 31- November 1, 2024

FIRE

The Rush Fire fire is currently estimated at 12488 acres and is 61% contained. Fire activity for the Rush Fire fire is expected to remain low.

SMOKE

Temperature will stay in the 70's today with Winds this morning out of the north 9-19 mph switching to NNE 11 mph with some gust upward of 18 mph. The winds will be out of the NE - ENE this evening 4-5 mph switching out of the East 5-mph with some gusts 8-15 mph. With overnight light rains on the fire, we may see some light smoke on smoldering heavy fuels. GOOD air quality to continue today within the forecast area.

HEALTH STATEMENT

Smoke can be harmful to your health. Check with your doctor if there are any health concerns and monitor your local air quality conditions using the Fire and Smoke Map.

AIR

Pile burning will continue today across the Lolo National Forest. Pile burning reduces the amount of fuels that are available to burn, lowering a wildfire’s intensity and reducing risks to firefighters and communities, a key component of the Wildfire Crisis Strategy. 

Missoula Ranger District: Firefighters will conduct approximately 40 acres of  pile burning on the Missoula Ranger District. Pending conditions, the pile burning will take place 3.5 miles northwest of Lolo Hot Springs off  Forest Road 33 at the junction of Wagon Mountain Road and Howard Creek Road. Smoke may be visible from Highway 12 and Lolo Hot Springs.

Plains/Thompson Falls Ranger District:  The Plains/Thompson Falls District will conduct pile burning at the Plains Ranger District.  Smoke may be visible from Plains. 

Superior Ranger District: Firefighters on the Superior District will conduct  up to 35 acres of pile burning on the Hall Wood Timber Sale project located 5 miles northeast of Superior.  Smoke may be visible from Superior and Interstate 90.